Ranger Witehall Makes Impact

Rookie Johan Witehall made the most of his sudden promotion Monday night. Witehall, called up from the minor leagues to replace troubled Kevin Stevens, scored his first NHL goal and Petr Nedved scored three times to lead the New York Rangers over the Atlanta Thrashers, 6-3, at Atlanta.

“Despite the situation, it’s great for me. I just want to play,” Witehall said.

Stevens was charged Monday with carrying several grams of crack and released on $1,500 bail.

Stevens, facing up to three years in prison on the felony possession charge, was arrested with a prostitute in a St. Louis motel room early Sunday after the Rangers played the Blues.

Police said they found crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and about $3,000 in cash in the room. Stevens, 34, is married with two children. He was placed in the NHL’s substance-abuse program. Stevens was also was charged with soliciting a prostitute and possessing drug paraphernalia.

Pamela Velia, 27, told police Stevens was smoking crack when she got into a cab with him. She said Stevens gave her $500 then bought another $500 worth of cocaine. The cab driver took the two to a motel, where they smoked crack, police were told. Police arrived after someone reported a disturbance.

OTHER GAMES

Igor Korolev scored twice as Toronto tied visiting Ottawa, 3-3. . . . Marek Malik scored 55 seconds into overtime at Raleigh, N.C., as Carolina defeated Montreal, 3-2. . . . Marc Savard scored twice, including the game-winner with 3:04 left in overtime, as visiting Calgary defeated Boston, 4-3. . . . Washington scored seven times in the final two periods to defeat visiting Tampa Bay, 8-2. . . . Sergei Krivokrasov scored 1:19 into overtime to give Nashville a 3-2 victory at Edmonton.

Around the League

The Rigas family, owner of Adelphia Communications, has reached a tentative agreement to buy out minority partners in the Buffalo Sabres and take full ownership by March 15.